Janouba

An ode to "the south," meaning a beloved place that is also home. My soul, my south, he sings, there is no homeland like this one and no beloved like the one we wish for; this is the place we love and stay up long nights in, young men and women together, with strong resolve, and we will not give up our country. He imagines life before and after knowing it: how did we live before we met you? A middle verse in Modern Standard Arabic pictures a person lying on his back with eyes closed while everything dances before him, people approaching from far away carrying their stories and their flaws, their words and their melodies pulling him south, until he is drowning in it. The closing returns to the chorus of love for the homeland.